Heavy and Construction Equipment Appraisals

Sencer Appraisal Associates provides unbiased, accurate and defensible heavy equipment appraisals and construction equipment appraisals for all purposes. All our heavy equipment appraisals are completed by an accredited equipment appraiser of the American Society of Appraisers and certified compliant with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP). They will meet necessary IRS standards, Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) GAAP standards, International Valuation Standards, and U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) requirements, ensuring they will withstand any scrutiny that comes your way.

Need a value you can stand behind? Call Sencer Appraisal at 888-473-6237 or use the Request a Proposal form. We’ll walk you through the process.

A heavy and construction equipment appraisal is an unbiased opinion of value that is accurate, defensible, and completed by an accredited, qualified professional. Sencer Appraisal’s heavy equipment appraisals are completed by accredited equipment appraisers of the American Society of Appraisers and certified as compliant with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP).

In business, at some point, you will need to know the true value of your machinery and equipment. With the global construction equipment market size at around $90 billion, businesses, bankers, CPAs, courts, tax authorities, and attorneys frequently all ask for “certified appraisals.” For equipment valuations, this means that the report is certified as compliant with the USPAP standards.

• ASA-accreditation on every report. Each appraisal is signed by an Accredited Senior Appraiser of the American Society of Appraisers, and the firm is led by a past International President of the ASA and a long-time ASA chapter officer.
• Seventy years of experience. Founded in 1955, with corporate offices in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, and Oakland, California, supported by a national network of expert associates.
• Reports built for the intended purpose. We prepare reports for lenders, tax boards, courts, insurers, auditors, trustees, and business owners, with USPAP compliance for U.S. engagements and IVS alignment or other standards that apply. Our valuations meet the standard called for by the assignment, including IRS regulations, U.S. GAAP guidelines, International Valuation Standards, and U.S. Small Business Administration procedures.
• Independence. We don’t auction, sell, or broker equipment, and we hold no financial interest in the machinery we appraise, so our opinion of value is fair and unbiased.

Every part of a construction or heavy-equipment operation runs on different machinery, and an excavator on a pipeline job is a different asset from a compactor on road paving project. Our appraisers and expert associates value the full range, from a single machine to an entire fleet, including:

Earthmoving and excavation. Excavators and mini excavators, bulldozers and crawler dozers, wheel loaders and track loaders, backhoe loaders, skid steers and compact track loaders, motor graders, scrapers, trenchers, and draglines and shovels.

Lifting and material handling. Mobile, crawler, rough-terrain, and all-terrain cranes; boom trucks; telehandlers and reach forklifts; forklifts; aerial and boom lifts; and scissor lifts.

Roadbuilding and paving. Asphalt pavers, milling machines and cold planers, rollers and compactors, concrete batch plants, concrete pumps and mixer trucks, crushing and screening plants, and asphalt plants.

Trucks and hauling. Articulated and rigid haul trucks, off-highway and mining trucks, dump trucks, semi tractors and trailers, water trucks, and lowboy and equipment trailers.

Site support and power. Air compressors, generators and light towers, welders, pumps, conveyors, drilling and boring equipment, and attachments such as buckets, hammers, augers, and grapples.

We value equipment from manufacturers including Caterpillar, Komatsu, John Deere, Volvo, Case, New Holland, JCB, Hitachi, Liebherr, Doosan and Develon, Bobcat, Kubota, Hyundai, Terex, Manitowoc and Grove, Genie, JLG, Wirtgen, Sany, and Kobelco, among many others. If your equipment is not listed here, contact us. We are glad to talk through your specific machinery.

Construction companies and organizations need heavy and construction equipment appraisals when a lender, court, tax authority, auditor, insurer, buyer, seller, partner, trustee, or administrator requires a defensible value opinion. The intended use determines the value definition, scope of work, inspection requirements, and report format. Common reasons include:

• Financing and collateral loans. Lenders, such as your local bank or credit union, need a credible value to set borrowing capacity and approve asset-based lending, including SBA-backed loans.
• Mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures. Equipment values are a standard part of due diligence for buyers, sellers, lenders, brokers, and advisors.
• Partnership buy-ins and buy-outs. Partners and shareholders use a fair value to price ownership interests when the company changes hands or ownership shares change.
• Insurance. Replacement cost and actual cash value appraisals support the right coverage limits and provide an objective baseline for settling disputes or loss claims after a fire, flood, or theft.
• Estate and gift taxes. In the U.S., the Internal Revenue Service may require a qualified appraisal of business assets when a company owner’s estate is settled or interests are transferred.
• Divorce and litigation. A third-party opinion of value gives courts, legal counsel, and the parties a documented figure, supported by expert witness testimony when required.
• Shareholder disputes and buyouts. Many jurisdictions require a fair value determination when shareholders are bought out. In California, Corporations Code Section 2000 governs certain buyouts in close corporations. In Delaware, Section 262 of the General Corporation Law gives dissenting shareholders appraisal rights. Courts in both states and across the U.S. rely on independent valuations of the underlying assets.
• Eminent domain and condemnation. An accredited appraisal establishes the value of machinery and equipment before a government taking, supporting just-compensation claims under federal and state condemnation procedures.
• Bankruptcy and restructuring. Trustees, debtors, secured creditors, and counsel rely on accredited appraisals for plan confirmation, secured-claim treatment, going-concern and liquidation analysis, and valuation for asset sales.
• Property tax and ad valorem appeals. An accredited appraisal supports an appeal by establishing the defensible market value of equipment for the tax year, often where the assessor relied on cost-trended data rather than market evidence.
• Financial reporting and purchase price allocations. After a business acquisition, equipment is valued to allocate the purchase price across assets and to test for impairment. Applicable frameworks may include Accounting Standards Codification 805, Business Combinations (ASC 805); Accounting Standards Codification 820, Fair Value Measurements (ASC 820); and Accounting Standards Codification 360, Property, Plant, and Equipment (ASC 360) under U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (U.S. GAAP); International Financial Reporting Standard 3, Business Combinations (IFRS 3), and International Accounting Standard 36, Impairment of Assets (IAS 36) under IFRS; and Internal Revenue Code Section 1060 (IRC §1060) for U.S. federal tax filings.

We’re help our clients find the right appraisal approach for their circumstances. For heavy and construction equipment appraisals, this may include an inspected equipment appraisal or an uninspected desktop equipment appraisal.

Inspected Equipment Appraisal Report

Often called a field appraisal, this is an on-site inspection by our accredited associates. During the inspection, an appraiser will collect all of the necessary information and data of your machinery or heavy equipment while performing an inspection and taking photos on-site.

• We inspect all equipment on-site.
• We inspect the condition of the equipment
• We take photos of all the heavy and construction equipment.
• Your business doesn’t stop.
• You receive an appraisal that meets any necessary standards from the IRS, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) GAAP, the International Valuation Standards, and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), and is certified to meet USPAP appraisal requirements.
• We provide a signed and secured digital PDF of the appraisal report.

Desktop Equipment Appraisal Report

Our desktop equipment appraisal, also known as uninspected appraisals, are long-distance appraisals where we determine value without the need of a site inspection. It requires sufficient details to allow for a credible appraisal, and we rely on provided information and data about the assets to make a detailed analysis. A desktop appraisal may be a more cost-effective route, since you’re not incurring costs for travel and inspection, and it is a great option if you’re not involved in litigation, tax issues, or dealing with SBA loan or banking requirements.

• You send us copies of key documents and photos.
• We assess the documents.
• No travel costs.
• No obstacles caused by natural disasters or pandemics.
• Your business doesn’t stop.
• You receive an appraisal that meets any necessary standards from the IRS, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) GAAP, the International Valuation Standards, and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), and is certified to meet USPAP appraisal requirements.
• We provide a signed and secured digital PDF copy of the appraisal report.

Getting Started

We identify the purpose of the appraisal and the intended use before collecting facts and information about the equipment such as manufacturer, model number, serial number, hours/miles, important specifications, and condition.

Appraisal Type

We identify the best appraisal type and valuation definition for your purpose, such as fair market value, orderly liquidation value, forced liquidation value, fair value or other definition of value.

Valuation

We either complete an on-site inspection or distant desktop analysis of the equipment, before developing an accurate and unbiased opinion of the equipment value.

Delivery

We deliver you with an accurate and independent appraisal document that meets IRS standards, Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) GAAP standards, International Valuation Standards, and U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and USPAP requirements.

Common questions about construction and heavy machinery and equipment appraisals.

Prepared by Matthew Edelstein, ASA (Chadds Ford office) and Garrett Schwartz, FASA, CEA (Oakland office), principals of Sencer Appraisal Associates.